(China Airlines)
The number of air passengers will grow by more than 800 million in the next three years, according to an industry forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The Geneva-based airline group predicts airlines globally will carry 3.3 billion travelers by 2014, up 32% from 2009.
Most of the growth will come out of China, IATA says.
Some 360 million (45%) of the 800 million additional passengers will travel on Asia-Pacific routes and, of those, 214 million will be associated with China (181 million domestic and 33 million international), according to projections.
"The focus of the industry continues to shift eastward. By 2014, a billion people will travel by air in Asia Pacific. That's 30% of the global total," says Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO.
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